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Mets Owners Fred Wilpon and Saul Katz are "seeking to avoid a jury trial in the case filed against them" by Bernie Madoff trustee Irving Picard. Documents filed Friday in Federal District Court in Manhattan stated that Picard "'is not entitled to a jury trial' because the two remaining claims arise out of the bankruptcy code." Bankruptcy courts generally "are not authorized to conduct jury trials." In N.Y., Richard Sandomir noted the request to avoid a jury trial "could indicate that the Mets' owners feel confident in rolling the dice with [Judge Jed] Rakoff, who last July agreed to move the case to his court from bankruptcy court and who has said bankruptcy court is a form that can have 'tunnel vision'" (N.Y. TIMES, 10/15).

SOMETHING TO BUZZ ABOUT: In New Orleans, Hornets Chair Jac Sperling said of the organization's ownership situation, "The number of potential owners has grown. I think the commissioner mentioned there were four or five, and I think the number has increased a little bit. There are some potential owners who live in New Orleans and some who live outside of New Orleans. But all of them understand that they would be buying a team that would have a long-term lease here." Sperling said the Hornets are "trying to move the process along so that once the labor situation is clarified, we'll be able to act quickly." Meanwhile, Sperling said he is "proud" of the number of season tickets the Hornets have sold amid "talks swirling around contraction and relocation." But he added, "We're not done. Our goal is to get to 10,000 season tickets. We're at 9,217, and we started out at a base of 6,300. That's almost 3,000 new tickets. ... If we can demonstrate to a new owner that there are 10,000 season tickets out there, it will put us in the top one-third in the league in season tickets. That’s a pretty strong indicator for the No. 30th-size market what the financial viability of the franchise will be" (NOLA.com, 10/16).

LOCAL INVESTMENT: Hurricanes Owner Peter Karmanos said that he now "has sold $22 million in equity of the franchise to nine people, all of them from North Carolina, who could invest another $7 million or more." He said that he "would soon announce the names of some of the investors but said that some would prefer 'to stay in the background.'" Karmanos: "I think in the next six months we'll sell another $20 million, and all to North Carolina people." Karmanos announced Thursday that he had added AHL Charlotte Checkers Owner Michael Kahn to the Hurricanes' ownership group (NEWSOBSERVER.com, 10/14).

FISH TAIL: In Miami, Armando Salguero cites sources as saying that Dolphins Owner Stephen Ross is “open to either hiring a superstar head coach who would have final say over all of football operations or hiring a football czar type who would hire a coach and either hire a general manager or serve as the GM while having final say over all personnel moves.” Salguero notes that means “unless the Dolphins turn things around the rest of the season, neither coach Tony Sparano nor general manager Jeff Ireland are assured of being around” when the ’12 season begins. Salguero: “Either way the owner ultimately decides to go -- coach with final say or football czar-general manager with final say -- Ross wants the signature addition to be someone of consequence and stature” (MIAMI HERALD, 10/17).

SBJ Morning Buzzcast: March 25, 2024

NFL meeting preview; MLB's opening week ad effort and remembering Peter Angelos.

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On this week’s pod, our Big Get is CBS Sports college basketball analyst Jay Wright. The NCAA Championship-winning coach shares his insight with SBJ’s Austin Karp on key hoops issues and why being well dressed is an important part of his success. Also on the show, Poynter Institute senior writer Tom Jones shares who he has up and who is down in sports media. Later, SBJ’s Ben Portnoy talks the latest on ESPN’s CFP extension and who CBS, TNT Sports and ESPN need to make deep runs in the men’s and women's NCAA basketball tournaments.

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SBJ I Factor features an interview with AMB Sports and Entertainment Chief Commercial Office Nana-Yaw Asamoah. Asamoah, who moved over to AMBSE last year after 14 years at the NFL, talks with SBJ’s Ben Fischer about how his role model parents and older sisters pushed him to shrive, how the power of lifelong learning fuels successful people, and why AMBSE was an opportunity he could not pass up. Asamoah is 2021 SBJ Forty Under 40 honoree. SBJ I Factor is a monthly podcast offering interviews with sports executives who have been recipients of one of the magazine’s awards.

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